


A Guard and their Prisoner

by Cheeto_the_Cat



Series: A Series of Interludes: Niki and Sapnap [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Dream Smp, Enemies to Friends, all platonic ofc, remember when Niki was taken prisoner by Manburg?, that but Sapnap guards her instead of Ant, this caters to my taste exclusively
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:08:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27569560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheeto_the_Cat/pseuds/Cheeto_the_Cat
Summary: When Niki is taken prisoner by Manburg, Sapnap is tasked with guarding her. He would rather be doing anything else.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Niki | Nihachu & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Niki | Nihachu & Wilbur Soot
Series: A Series of Interludes: Niki and Sapnap [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2066427
Comments: 28
Kudos: 226





	A Guard and their Prisoner

“You fight like him, y’know?”

“Techno?”   


“Dream.”

“Oh.”

Niki was watching him intently as he mimed swings against a tree, her posture rigid, stopping herself from flinching every time the axe came down.

“Quite the compliment,” He remarked. Especially from her, he thought, considering she was currently his prisoner, and under no obligation to be kind to him.

Sapnap had been charged with guarding her while the others prepared for a longer battle against those of Pogtopia, betting that his presence would be enough to ward off any allies hoping for an easy reconnaissance mission. So far, it appeared they were correct- it was just them, alone in a sparse forest near Skeppy’s house, tension coming in waves from both parties. 

“I- I didn’t mean it like a compliment. You both strike the same way- I mean- you move through a swing the same way, like your whole body moves to align it.”

“Yeah, well, I’m taking it as one.”

“It’s not. You make the same mistake, too.”

That got his attention. He turned towards her, eyebrow cocked. “And what would that be?” He wanted to hear her answer, oddly enough.

“Tunnel vision.”

He scoffed, unsure what response he was expecting from her.

“You’re too attached to your swings. Too proud of them. You don’t turn around fast enough after, either, almost like you’re invested in watching the outcome. Fighting is a performance, but not for yourself.” It sounded methodical, as though it had been said to her many times before.

She was right, though. He’d spent a fair share of time sparring with Dream, and it was all too easy to find the blind spot right after he hit, when he could sense that his friend was taking the time to congratulate himself, if only for a split second. But that was all he needed to strike, bringing his axe as close as he dared, a movement that signified death had this scenario played out in real time. 

Sapnap’s throat dried at the thought that Dream surely knew this flaw of his as well, that he knew all of his flaws, that he would be facing against a person he had once shared all of his flaws with boldly, laughed about them as they fought.

It seems so  _ dumb _ now, how he had just given it all to Dream, recklessly shared information that could render him all too vulnerable in a fight. But he had assumed it wouldn’t come to that, couldn’t fathom a day he and Dream would be fighting face to face instead of back to back.

He had assumed a lot of things.

“Didn’t peg you as a fighter, not gonna lie.” 

“I’m not, really. I’ve trained with Techno a bit though.” She was trying to underplay how much it meant to her, but he could hear the pride in her voice. 

Well that explained the way she was watching, the way she talked about fighting so- mechanically, as if it were simply a series of gestures and movements rather than a mess of quick thinking and underhanded tricks. It had all the markings of a pretentious Hypixel snob, one that had clearly been taught and trained to fight in pristine arenas, rather than forced to learn under pressure.

“Yeah, I can tell.”

“Thank you.”

“Wasn’t a compliment.”

She laughed then, brushing the pale bits of her hair away from her face and shifting so that she could look at him more easily. “Fair enough.”

He didn’t like how this conversation was going. It felt dangerous, to interact with her like this, veering too close to friendly and too far from hostile. It felt dangerous, because Sapnap could justify his actions when his enemies felt two dimensional, and Niki was so clearly not, in this moment. 

But it had been so long since he’d actually talked to someone like this, about combat and fighting styles, about anything really. He stifled a laugh at the fact that the first conversation he was enjoying in weeks was with someone quite literally unable to escape him, but it seemed that his life had come to this point.

With Dream on the other side of the spruce forest that separated their lands and George either wrapped up in political turmoil or simply not present, Sapnap found himself more lonely than he’d like to admit. Not for a lack of people to talk to, as their lands seemed to find themselves populated with more and more people, but a lack of people who  _ understood. _ He didn’t know why, but something in Niki’s angry eyes told him that she knew what it was like to feel unsure about everything happening around them, powerless to the decisions their leaders made for them. To wonder how long your friends would be on your own side, how long it would be before it was your turn to face them in battle. 

It was a shame that he had burned that bridge.

He had a habit of doing that. 

He didn’t realize how long he’d been silent until Niki had shifted back against the wall of her enclosure, her interest officially lost.  _ Fair enough. _

  
  
  
  
  
  


He wanted to say something. Anything, to be honest. He wanted to talk to her, wanted to prove that he could still be civil, that the gap that war had formed wasn’t so deep they couldn’t make small talk, for God’s sake.

“How’d you get to know Techno anyways? Kind of an antisocial guy, at least that’s what I’ve been told.” She looked up at him from where she was sitting on the ground, eyes flinty and guarded.

“I met  _ Technoblade  _ through Wilbur.”

Her tone was choppy and forced, it was clear she didn’t want to say more than she felt she had to. He wasn’t sure what had caused the change in mood, but he supposed he couldn’t blame her for harboring some animosity. He pressed on nonetheless.

“How’d you meet Wilbur, then?”

“It’s complicated.” A word clearly chosen carefully, revealing little. He was happy to play this game.

“Care to elaborate?”   


She turned her head away and mumbled something he could barely hear, clearly embarrassed.

“What’d you say?”

“...met him at a ball.”

“Oh I  _ have  _ to hear this one,” he drawled, both genuinely curious and glad she was finally talking.

Niki sighed. “It was an event to bolster national relations, and I was dragged there by my friend Minx; he was there as Techno’s plus one and diplomat on behalf of the Antarctic Empire.” She smiled slightly, now, her confidence growing. “Techno was expected to dance with some of the girls, but he had pushed the job solely onto Wilbur, of course.”

Sapnap snickered, seeing the scene play out in his mind.

“He must’ve danced with like 10 girls that night, all looking to claim his hand. Some wanted the power that came with being on the arm of the Empire’s most trusted friend, but others had more genuine intentions, I guess.”

“I wonder which one  _ you _ were.”

She blushed furiously, stammering “I never told- I never told you I danced with him!”

“But you did.”

“Only because Minx wanted me to! She thought it would be good to strengthen connections between our lands.” She was gesturing with her hands now, much more animated than before.

“Sure.”

“ _ Anyways. _ He danced with all of us that night, and we got to talking and found out we had a lot in common. Y’know, we had the same sense of humor, same taste in music.” She relaxed again, and the smile was back, lost in the memory. “He promised me that he’d serenade me with his guitar some day, and I realized that he intended to keep talking to me after that night. I was so happy.” Niki laughed again, and Sapnap could tell he meant a lot to her.

She took a deep breath. “We started talking, and never really stopped, I guess. That was that.”

He had to smile. It was a sweet story, afterall, and the world seemed awfully short of those in these times.

Her voice got quiet, shaky, then, and the smile slipped from her face. “These weeks are the longest I’ve gone without talking to him.”

  
  


_ Oh.  _

  
  


_ Oh no. _

  
  


Sapnap didn’t know what to say, had absolutely no clue what words he could possibly use to make the situation better.  _ Really sucks to hear about your friend, huh? To bad you’re in prison right now, oh wait, I put you in there. Sorry, I guess. _

He couldn’t just let her go though, even if he wanted to. It wasn’t an option.

His relationship with his other allies had only grown more strained as he had gotten increasingly reckless, pulled increasingly larger stunts in an effort to get someone,  _ anyone, _ to listen to him. His pyromaniac tendencies weren’t cute anymore, and he knew that, but he had needed something warm to fill the void his friends left. It wasn’t healthy, probably, but it was what he did to cope. They were all coping.

He needed to say something, though. Wanted to, actually. Wanted to prove that he understood. That he wasn’t so far gone, so far removed from her. 

“I haven’t talked to Dream in weeks, either. I used to talk to him everyday.”

“Fair enough.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The silence was getting unbearable again, not angry this time, nor awkward, but growing in anticipation of the next words that would fly out of Sapnap’s mouth before he had the chance to think them through.

He blurted out, “Why didn’t you just run away? After the election?” 

“What? I was imprisoned.” Niki laughed again, incredulous this time, seeming to draw amusement from the fact that he had even asked that question.

‘Well not for long. You could’ve just escaped.” The words came out more defensive than he had originally intended. He wished she had just made it to Pogtopia, so he wouldn’t have to be here right now, keeping her away from the people she wanted to see.

“I couldn’t just leave?” Her tone was accusatory now, he had said the wrong thing. “I had a responsibility, to my nation- to my  _ home. _ I couldn’t just abandon it. Just- just because you don’t have morals doesn’t mean everyone else is lacking in them!” 

Sapnap suddenly didn’t feel so bad about imprisoning her anymore.

He made his way forcefully over to her enclosure, making direct eye contact with her this time.

“Big words coming from someone trying to overthrow a democratically elected government! Wilbur overthrew Dream, and now he’s trying to overthrow Schlatt. He has  _ no right _ to try and take it back.”

It was a low blow, and he knew it.

“You can’t seriously mean that. You  _ know  _ that Schlatt is a dictator, that the way he won was unfair. He threw Wilbur and Tommy out of their  _ home. _ ” Her voice was breaking now, her accent coming out. She didn’t talk how she fought. This wasn’t calculated, it was emotional, and messy, and he wasn’t quite sure how’d they’d wound up here. 

“Yeah, well, maybe he deserved it.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“Maybe I do.”

“He was a good leader, and you know it!”

“He was a nice figurehead, pretty face and all that, sure, but he was never any use to Manburg. He’s more useful on the arm of some girl at a ball than he is fighting a war. He was- “

“Fuck you.”

  
  


Sapnap was momentarily shocked, he didn’t think he could provoke her this far, but before he could get a word out he was interrupted again by a sob.

Niki sank to the ground, slowly, slipping down against the glass walls of her enclosure, folding in on herself as she put her hand over her mouth in an effort to stifle herself, like that would somehow hide the tears now streaming down her face.

Her next words came out in a mess of tears amidst a breakdown. “It wouldn’t have mattered to me, either way. I- I just miss my friend.” 

In an instant, he knew he would’ve said the same thing about Dream. 

He had known during the war that Wilbur would have been a better leader for the people in L’manburg. He was personally invested, more than Dream ever had been, and his people adored him. But he had supported Dream, because it was  _ Dream _ : his friend, the person he would follow to the end of the earth.

“I understand.”

_ Niki was to Wilbur as Sapnap was to Dream. _

  
  


The only difference being that a glass enclosure was the only thing stopping Niki from running back to Wilbur, and Sapnap wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to run back to Dream’s side again.

He slowly moved himself next to her, until they were on opposite sides of the glass. There they sat, with nothing to say.

At some point he started crying too. 

Because it was Niki, who everyone loved, who everyone regarded as a sweet girl who hadn’t really done anything wrong, ever _. _ Niki, who was crying, right in front of him, and it was  _ his fault _ . 

As a rule, he tried not to think about the people he had hurt, about the people Schlatt’s side had hurt. He had pushed it to the back of his mind and pretended like it was all fun and games, that his opponents were just as willing to fight as he was. But he couldn’t ignore her crying, now, and he found himself trapped in his own glass enclosure, forever stuck looking at her, as if she was a representation of all the pain he had caused.

Sapnap didn’t know why he’d said that to her. Maybe he wanted a response, attention, like when he’d burned down houses or killed pets. But her response wasn’t what he’d wanted. Sure, her cursing him out had been satisfying for the second it had just hung in the air, filling the gap between them. But then she’d deflated, and he had too, and now they were sitting again in the silence he dreaded so much. It felt more comfortable now, though. 

“I’m sorry.” He'd given up on stopping his tears, now. 

“For what?”   


“Everything”

_ He meant it. _

“Fair enough.”

  
  
  
  
  


After a while, their sobs subsided, falling into a rhythm of heaving breathing and sighs. The sun was beginning to set, casting them in the golden glow that managed to peek through the trees, casting them in a light that romanticized the guard and his prisoner. 

Sapnap felt completely and utterly exhausted, he couldn’t remember the last time he had felt this  _ much _ . It felt awful, but good, in a sense, to stop pretending like he didn’t care.

No one had come for them yet, from Pogtopia or Manburg. It felt as though they were fossilized in this forest, as if the universe had plucked them from their current reality and suspended them in amber, a relic to be forgotten by everyone else. He supposed that was a good thing. He wouldn’t have known how to explain the tear stains running down both their faces, nor the way they were pressed up against the glass together, as close as possible with the wall between them.

Something had changed. He wasn’t sure what, but he felt like both of them had purged something from their systems. Like a rusty tap left running, their water was finally coming out clear, finally free of whatever had been plaguing them.

  
  


“When this is all over, what're you gonna do?”

“So unconfident you’ll be able to keep me imprisoned, huh?” Niki’s voice was rough, and her eyes were red and puffy from tears, but it seemed as if she didn’t have the energy to be angry with him anymore.

“I know Techno, and I know Dream. They care about their friends. You’ll be out as soon as they figure out a way to do it safely.” His voice was rough too, but the defensiveness was gone.

“I figure that doesn’t mean you can just let me out now.”

“Unfortunately, nope.”

She laughed lightly. 

“Fair enough.”

“No seriously, what’s your big plan?” He really was curious, to be fair. “This war won’t last forever, hopefully. Gonna expand your bakery or something?

A pause.

He wondered if he’d said the wrong thing again.

She turned again to look at him, gray eyes clear and shining with purpose, with hope. “I’m gonna build a city.”

It was his turn to laugh. “Really?”

“It’ll be underground, big and beautiful. I’m gonna build homes and stockpile food, for people who need it, y’know? For refugees, I guess. Maybe it’s a futile effort, to try to build a place for peace, away from all the fighting, but I’ll try.”

“No, no, it’s a good idea.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah, I do.”

And he found once again that he meant it. She would be a great leader, kind and compassionate, with the patience and skill to put it all together. He wanted to see the idea come to fruition, to see a civilization go unpunctuated by explosions and warfare, a place where people who just wanted sanctuary to go.

“And what about you? What will you do, when it’s all over?” Her voice was soft, now.

“Well, I suppose I’m not invited to your city, seeing as it’s meant for peace and all that.”

She looked at, no, stared at him for a moment, and he felt as though his soul was being evaluated, as though she was Anubis and his heart was being weighed to determine its virtue. Suddenly, he wanted desperately for her to deem him worthy, for her to  _ understand,  _ even though he knew better than to hope.

“I think you might need peace more than any of us.”

“Oh.” 

Sapnap’s voice was failing him now, filling with emotion. He willed himself to keep it together. 

“Well, maybe I’ll stick around there, then.”

It was still awkward, but not in a bad way, he thought. She laughed, for a final time. 

  
  


“Fair enough.”

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Somehow, when I had intended on writing more Wilbur and Techno dynamic, I wound up writing this instead. I also accidentally wrote 3k words for a single conversation, for a dynamic no one was looking for. But here we are. 
> 
> I really appreciate comments, so go crazy, I would love to hear all your thoughts. <3
> 
> Kinda wanna write this again using the same dialogue, but with Niki's thoughts instead.


End file.
